PROVIDENCE, R.I. (SMU/The American) – Junior Arturs Kazijevs and senior Mischa Nowicki both received All-American Athletic Conference recognition, the league announced on Thursday.

With Kazijevs earning all-conference honors in singles and Nowicki in doubles, this marks the fifth-straight season SMU has been given all-league recognition in both disciplines. Both players also received all-conference distinction a year ago by Conference USA.

“It’s exciting for both players,” SMU head coach Carl Neufeld said. “Arturs had a very difficult season with multiple injuries but he really persevered. For Mischa, it’s awesome; he played really well against some of the top teams in the country. It’s well deserved.”

Kazijevs, who was a unanimous selection, went 17-13 overall, including eight wins at No. 1 singles in the spring. The Riga, Latvia, native also beat four ranked opponents, including No. 46 Nick Chappell of No. 56 TCU on April 1. Kazijevs also beat No. 76 Ace Matias (UNLV), No. 104 Karue Sell (UCLA) and No. 108 Adam Gustafsson (Rice) at the ITA All-American Championships, advancing to the second round of consolation singles. He also won nine of his first 12 matches of the season, posting an 8-4 record in fall tournaments. Kazijevs is currently ranked 119th in the nation in singles, ranking as high as 73rd this season.

Nowicki began the season ranked 43rd nationally with Kazijevs as a partner, winning five matches in the fall tournament season together. Nowicki spent most of the fall paired with freshman Arkidjas Slobodkins, rising to 55th nationally after defeating No. 8 Joe Salisbury and David O’Hare of No. 21 Memphis in the conference semifinals. The duo also beat Amar Hromic and Jesse Flores of 62nd-ranked UCF in the league quarterfinals.

Both players also recently received awards at SMU’s annual student-athlete banquet. Kazijevs took home the Perseverance Award, while Nowicki won the Meyer Brothers Award for the senior student athlete with the highest cumulative GPA.

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